Customer Reviews

Stamped Out (A Stamping Sisters Mystery)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

the reviewers who gave this less than 3 stars...and for the very same reasons..I, too, am glad to have found it at my library (that makes it easier to put down, barely able to get to the end) because I found I really didn't CARE about any of the characters on any level.

As a retired crafter, I find myself leaning towards these crafty-mystery titles more often these days. This one is among a few others that have disappointed me. Halfway thru and I had to say there wasn't much of anything interesting between the pages, the people were basically unlikeable (and I tried hard to find a redeeming soul amongst the lot). At that point, I also realized there wasn't much of a mystery going on either. April, as the main character, left tons to be desired...and why did the author name her April so that her dad could call her Apy??? UGH!

Also, the plot of April leaving her husband for stealing and ruining her business reputation is ringing familiar bells in my head from another book I read awhile ago (cannot recall the title), so I felt the unoriginality immediately.

I had thoughts of also reading this author's other series (quilting), but have definitely changed my mind...No more, free or not...

Unable to continue her married life in San Francisco, April Buchert returns to her roots in Aldenville, Pennsylvania. She is done with her husband Ken who turned out to be a crook and decides that a change for scenery would do get good, even if it means dealing with her divorced parents, Bonnie and Ed, who love to meddle with her personal and professional life. Coming back home turns out to be more of a necessity as she is in desperate need to work again, earn money and to clear her head from her heartache. Instead of helping her dad, the owner of a construction company, with simple tasks she gets tangled up with restoring an original mural and eventually discovers a skull in a small Castle by her new job, which had to be demolished. Everyone looks at her father for answers since he was in charge of constructing it over fifteen years ago, expecting an explanation of the missing body and a skull with a hole in its side, clearly not an accident. With her father taken into police custody by an overly eager officer Yost, who seems to have a real hunger to bring her family down to its knees, April decides to try to solve the mystery of the skull and of a haunting night from her youth that might have something to do with it.

With the support of her childhood friend Deana, and the Stamping Sisters club - a small group of local women who have been friends and craft project fanatics, April takes on the task of sleuthing as once again she's getting familiar with the town she grew up in and which she left in a hurry after finishing school. Things have changed and so have people, someone who's pretending to be a friend has killed a man and left him in her father's construction. April must find out who did the crime, not only for her father's sake but for the safety of everyone involved, as more people associated with the incident seem to be dying in mysterious ways. The more she gets involved the more she realizes that people who seem innocent have more skeletons in their closet than the wilder characters.

I actually enjoyed the book even though it had some gripes. Overall it was cute and cozy, and the scenery was described beautifully, all the nature, the interiors and exteriors were colorful and full of life, in fact the only thing I had no clue about its appearance was April herself. The author left the imaginary process completely to the reader; I wish that could have been embellished on since everything else was well described. The arts and crafts aspect was cute but didn't really make the book any more solid, April didn't get to do much with her stamps or even with the mural, it seemed that the cozy factor was a way to lure readers to get the book and the project included was a bit silly, not really useful for anything. Worst of all the women in the stamping club were bit annoying and catty, I couldn't imagine being friends with many of them, and there was a lot of tension going on; the finances and the construction work being in danger since the murder put it to a halt were little nerve wracking. In these days I read to get away from daily grind, not to read about peoples money problems and their parents divorces. I felt like the murder took a second seat and I hate to say it but the mystery/death itself was not very interesting. It happened long time ago, the character wasn't even in the picture unless I got to read about people recollecting the past and believe it or not I guessed who the villain was, not really too hard if you pay attention in this book. So the mystery was lukewarm but the book was okay, I will read the next in the series because I am curious how the characters evolve. I enjoyed reading about April and her mom, it seemed that their relationship benefited greatly form all the changes. Not a bad book but nothing to rave about, it was a fast read but when it came to sleuthing it skated on thin ice or ridiculousness.

- Kasia S.

April Buchert returns to Aldenville, Pennsylvania after her marriage fails and her career is ruined. April is a restoration expert who creates intricate rubber stamp patterns on walls and she will be working alongside her father retoring the town's famous Winchester mansion. This seems like the perfect way to make a fresh start. Alas, it all goes horribly awry once a skull is discovered in the rubble following the demolition of an abandoned guesthouse and April's father becomes an immediate suspect.

I didn't enjoy this story although I did read it through to the end to see if it improved. The disappointing thing is that there were a number of good elements but they weren't developed in a coherent way. I found that I didn't care for any of the characters and neither the `mystery' nor the crafting was enough to carry the story forward.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I am glad this is a library book and i didnt buy it. Definitely a "jump on the bandwagon" sort of story, use a hobby theme and hope people buy it for that. THe craft was uninspiring and just a vehicle to get the women together. I agree the characters are rather flat (like a stamp) and too many of them whine. Or were done "dirt" by the others. The Pennsylvania scenery is a nice touch (been there) but the author pans SF for contrast.

Laura Childs writes much better stamping cozies.

April Buchert left Aldersville, Pennsylvania as soon as she could to escape the constant scorn of the townsfolk caused by her father coming out of the closet to move in with his lover; which destroyed her mother. She moved to San Francisco where she married Ken and expected happily ever after; that ended when she realized her spouse stole from their clients and their business.

Her father asks April to work at his business Retro Reproduction; she accepts his offer because she needs the money as Ken the thief left her in debt. They are hired to restore Mirabella a home belonging to snobby high strung Mrs. Harcourt, who treats the lover, father and daughter like indentured servants. To April's chagrin her male partners accept it because they too need cash. Mrs. Harcourt orders them to demolish the Castle guesthouse. When they dynamite the facility, they are shocked to find a skull in the fireplace. Forensics proves it to be one of the workers who everyone thought he just left when he stopped coming to work, a common practice amongst laborers. Local cop Henry York, who hates the Buchert family, arrests April's dad. Though she has never done anything like this before, April vows to restore the family name by finding the real killer.

This first Stamping Sisters mystery is a great amateur sleuth tale is a fresh tale mostly due to April's parents and her dad's lover as they bring uniqueness to the extended family connotation. The protagonist is a likable, loyal yet flawed person who wants to do better and be more tolerant. April is attracted to Mitch, the nephew of her dad's odious client, and he to her; but since Ken she is relationship phobic and technically still married to the thieving louse. However, before working through her myriad of conflicting feelings, rescuing her father comes first; the only problem is no one has a motive, the cop could not care less whether he caught the killer, and the real culprit is watching.

Harriet Klausner

I love these types of books and was looking forward to this one since I'm such a fan of stamping. There is really nothing positive to say about this book. Every character in the book was either too shallow to form an opinion of or genuinely dislikable. The stamping group members all seemed to hate each other so I still cannot figure out what made them meet regularly. The professional story line was just silly-like an artist is going to use alcohol on a painting just becuase a difficult owner suggested it. There were way too many subplots which really didn't add anything to the main story.
I will NOT be reading any other books in this series under any circumstances. If you like this type of book, try the Craft Corner series; it's a thousand times better.

I was so excited to get this book-then SO disappointed when I read it. The characters were unlikable(the main character is whiny, her father left her mother for a man, etc.) and a lot of the book was just silly (like the "expert" using alcohol on a pricless mural just because the hard to please owner suggested it). I enjoy crafting mysteries but I won't be buying any more of this series unless there are some major changes.

Overall, I didn't "bond" with the "stamping sisters". The plot was good, but I couldn't help feeling disappointed, maybe because I didn't didn't like the characters. I probably won't be getting the next installment.

Maybe it's because I'm (reluctantly) getting into stamping, or because that area of PA is my old stompin' grounds, but I enjoyed this one. I didn't think April was particularly whiny (although I did wince at her father's calling her "Apy" and "Ape"), and I found most of the characters reasonably believable and interesting. My only complaint is that I figured out "whodunit" fairly early on, although I admit that I didn't have the whole "why" pieced together.

I couldn't decide between three and four stars. It's not great literature, but for a quick beach or weekend read, I think it's just right, and while I got this one from the library, I enjoyed it enough that I bought the next book in the series.

If you like craft mysteries, stamping and scrapbooking in particular, you might check out Joanna Campbell Slan's Kiki Lowenstein series - the writing is tighter and the crafts in the back of the book are far superior.

The story line was interesting. Author is on the right track. The heroine, rather whiny. I'd read another in the series if someone gave it to me, but it would be near the bottom of the list of what i'd buy again.